Terri Sewell ’86: U.S. Representative (D-Ala.)

Congresswoman Terri Sewell ’86 represents Alabama’s 7th District. Over her ten years in Congress, Sewell has developed a record of leadership: She was president of the Democratic Freshman Class in the 112th Congress and Chief Deputy Whip in the 116th Congress.

Sewell is a member of several notable caucuses, including the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus. She serves as the New Democrat Coalition’s Vice Chair for Outreach; Rep. Derek Kilmer ’96 (D-Wa.), who is also featured on our list, is chair.

As a representative for Alabama’s civil rights district (her hometown of Selma, Ala. was a site of historic activism and police violence during the civil rights movement), Sewell has authored two Congressional Gold Medal bills to commemorate the victims and fighters for voter and civil rights. She is a strong proponent of fully restoring the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This year, she serves as a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Vice Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, a distinguished and influential committee that oversees revenue, tax-writing, and appropriations.

Sewell is no stranger to campus. She serves as a University Trustee and participated in both Thrive and She Roars. The School of Public and International Affairs, from which she graduated with honors, recently named Sewell a changemaker.

Guest contributor Morgan Smith ’21 serves as president of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society.

Read our interview with Terri Sewell here.